Generation, Characterization, and Application of Hierarchically

Feb 2, 2016 - Hierarchically structured magnetic single-hole hollow spheres (MSHS) have been successfully obtained via a facile self-assembly strategy...
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Generation, characterization, and application of hierarchically structured self-assembly induced by the combined effect of self-emulsification and phase separation Xiuyu Wang, Yi Hou, Li Yao, Mingyuan Gao, and Maofa Ge J. Am. Chem. Soc., Just Accepted Manuscript • DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5b12149 • Publication Date (Web): 02 Feb 2016 Downloaded from http://pubs.acs.org on February 8, 2016

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Generation, characterization, and application of hierarchically structured self-assembly induced by the combined effect of self-emulsification and phase separation Xiuyu Wang, Yi Hou, Li Yao,* Mingyuan Gao,* Maofa Ge Beijing National Laboratory for Molecular Science, Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100190, China

Supporting Information Placeholder ABSTRACT: Hierarchically structured magnetic single-hole hollow spheres (MSHS) have been successfully obtained via a facile self-assembly strategy. This methodology allows the double emulsions generated via the combined effect of selfemulsification and phase separation to provide confinement for directing the self-assembly of magnetic nanoparticles. The resulting MSHS fully capitalize on both the multifunctional properties of magnetic nanoparticles and container features of single-hole hollow spheres. Moreover, the magnetic properties showed obvious improvement and can be tuned by modulating the assembled structure. Thus, MSHS can be used as a smart platform with multiple functionalities including image contrast enhancement, selective encapsulation for biomacromolecules, on-demand release, and magnetically guided transport. This strategy is very promising in the design of hierarchically structured assemblies for desired applications in biomedicine and other fields.

Diversified micro/nano-level hollow spheres have been developed through chemical synthetic routes for various applications in energy storage, catalysis, chemical sensors and 1 biomedicine. In particular, many interesting phenomena, such as highly effective diffusivity, up-taking capacity for big guest molecules, and selective and controllable encapsulation, have been observed in a new type of single-hole hollow spheres due to the unique structural features compared to 2 their closed-shell counterparts. However, the single-hole hollow spheres previously reported are often made of poly3 mers and silica. Compositionally, when such inert materials become replaced or accompanied by functional materials, multifunctional single-hole hollow spheres can be synthesized, which have the potential to upgrade the current con4 tainer performance. Magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) exhibit promising multifunctional properties that are capable of contrast enhancement in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), acting as drug

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carriers, heat generation, and guidance under remote fields. Furthermore, the intrinsic properties of nanoparticles can be improved by coupling and synergic effects through selfassembly into hierarchical structures based on confinement, which has been considered to be a feasible route to obtain 6 novel functional materials. Such assemblies, in turn, would be programmable for their ultimate performance in specific applications. However, organizing MNPs into complex architectures is challenging and unpredictable because the stabilization of such self-assemblies results from a delicate competition among many forces, including van der Waals, Zeeman coupling, magnetic, entropic, hydrophobic force and other 7 types of particle interactions. The magnitudes and ranges of these forces are complex, which enriches but also complicates the self-assembly process. Currently the assemblies of 8 MNPs with simple structures including linear assemblies, 9 10 spherical clusters, and worm-like superstructures are being developed to improve MRI contrast. However, organizing MNPs into hollow nanospheres with a single hole is quite limited. Herein, we developed a facile self-assembly strategy based on double emulsions to design hierarchically structured magnetic single-hole hollow spheres (MSHS) featured with uniform size, controllable hole and tunable magnetic properties. The obtained MSHS, with functionalities offered by both the magnetic nanomaterial and container features of hierarchical structure, could serve as a smart platform with multifunction including selective loading, precise transport, ondemand release and real-time location reporting. In our strategy, MNPs serve as the building blocks, while a double emulsion provides confinement for directing the selfassembly of MNPs. The strategy involved the following three steps to synthesize MSHS: single droplets, double emulsions, and self-assembly (Figure 1a). In the first step, monodisperse single droplets containing dichloromethane, oleic acid coated Fe3O4 nanoparticles (OA-coated Fe3O4, Figure S1) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) were generated through a microfluidic device. As displayed in Figure 1b, the dispersed phase flow passes through the exit orifice and subsequently rup-

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Figure 1. (a) Schematic illustration of the self-assembly strategy based on the double emulsions to produce MSHS. (b) Formation of oil-in-water droplets using a microfluidic device. The dispersed phase consists of MNPs and PEG in dichloromethane, and the continuous phase is the aqueous phase of sodium dodecyl sulfate solution. (c, d) Optical micrographs of single droplets and double emulsions. (e) Sequential fluorescence images showing the transformation of a single droplet into a double emulsion based on the combined effect of self-emulsification and phase separation. A green fluorescent dye was added in the dispersed phase to visually trace the evolution of a single droplet. tures to form uniform droplets just inside the orifice as a result of hydrodynamic instabilities. Then, the droplets were collected and kept under a saturated dichloromethane vapor atmosphere at a relatively low temperature (2°C). Interestingly, double emulsions formed after 40 min. To visualize the transformation of a single droplet into the double emulsion (Figure 1c-e), an oil-soluble green fluorescent dye (fluorescein) was added into the dispersed phase. The sequential fluorescent images showed that the diffusive water accumulates and emerges into reversed tiny droplets, resulting in the self11 emulsification process. Such tiny water droplets further trigger phase separation and coalesce to form a large single droplet, finally segregating from the organic phase due to a 12 temperature-assistant phase separation. The droplet size increased from 6 µm to 10 µm. Hence, based on the combined effect of self-emulsification and phase separation, double emulsions were generated without the use of a com13 plex microfluidic device or multiple emulsification steps. After the formation of double emulsions, dichloromethane was allowed to evaporate slowly into the surrounding air, inducing MNPs to self-assemble in the shell confinement. Upon solvent removal, MNPs tend to aggregate in the shell due to the interparticle interactions including hydrophobic forces, van der Waals forces and magnetic dipole–dipole in10 teractions. Meanwhile, the decrease in the area of the interface of the shrinking droplets causes a non-equilibrium adsorbed interfacial excess of PEG. As interfacial excess increase, the interfacial energy is predicted to increase to cer14 tain value triggering an interfacial instability (Equation 1): dγ = ∑ν i µi i

(1)

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Where γ is the interfacial free energy, vi is the interfacial excess of component i in molecules per unit area and µi is the chemical potential of component i on a per molecule basis. Thus, with the increase of PEG concentration, the shell structures became unstable, which was insufficient to withstand the interfacial energy. Furthermore, the MNPs can produce an uneven distribution of interfacial tension independently (Figure S2), driven by their quasi-irreversible adsorption to 15 the interface of droplets. Consequently, the most unstable part of shell burst into the continuous phase, resulting in the formation of a single hole. After the release of interfacial energy, the structure of single-hole hollow spheres was stabilized. Therefore, in our experiments, when the initial CPEG was lower than 0.35 mg/mL, monodisperse hollow spheres with closed shells were obtained (Figure 2a). As CPEG increased from 0.5 to 1.5 mg/mL, the diameter of the hole can be tuned by simply adjusting CPEG. When CPEG was above 2.0 mg/mL, extreme instabilities were observed, and the emulsion drops disappeared quickly into the continuous phase.

Figure 2. (a-d) TEM images of MSHS produced from emulsion droplets with different CPEG: 0.35, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 mg/mL, respectively. Inset: elemental mappings of Fe on intact hollow spheres. (e-h) Typical XTEM, HRTEM, SEM and AFM images of MSHS-400. The structural and morphological characteristics of MSHS were carefully investigated. Transmission electron microscopy (TEM) images (Figure 2b-d) clearly show a series of single-hole hollow spheres. The overall size is approximately 650 nm and the diameter of the holes ranges from 150 to 400 nm. We denoted them as MSHS-150, 300 and 400 corresponding to their average hole size, respectively. It is important to highlight that the monodispersity of MSHS is good enough to produce nearly perfect colloidal crystals, which provides a benchmark for the size uniformity of as16 semblies. Although some narrow crevices occur in the shells, the stability of MSHS has not been destroyed, even under intense vibration, ultrasonic treatment, or magnetic stimuli. Such stability generally originates from the structural features of the shell walls, which are composed of compactly packed nanoparticles and have a uniform thickness (Figure 2e, Figure S3 and S4). Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) measurements indicate the high ordering of the shell structure (Figure S5), where the smaller the hole size, the higher the order of the self-assemble structures is. Highresolution TEM (HRTEM) image of the shell edge (Figure 2f)

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making them programmable for the desired performance in specific applications.

exhibits the lattice fringes consistent with the interplanar d i s t a n c e o f Figure 3. Magnetic properties of MSHS and individual OA-Fe3O4 nanoparticles. (a) M-H curves at 300 K. (b) Structural imperfection dependence of MS, Mr and K. (c) FC/ZFC magnetization curves. 17

lattice planes of Fe3O4 nanoparticles. The morphological features of single-hole hollow spheres were further confirmed by the scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM) images (Figure 2g and h). Additionally, with the help of PEG, the assembled MSHS possess a high aqueous dispersity, which is demonstrated by dynamic light scattering measurements (Figure S6). When MNPs are utilized as building blocks to engineer assemblies, the assembled structure becomes an important parameter for determining the magnetic properties besides 18 the composition, crystallographic structure, size and shape. Here, the ratio of hole size to overall size was used to describe the imperfection of the assembled structures (Im is 0.231, 0.462, 0.615, and ∞ for MSHS-150, 300, 400, and OAFe3O4). As shown in Figure 3a, the field-dependent magnetism of MSHS exhibited no hysteresis at 300 K, indicating their superparamagnetic characteristics. The saturation magnetization (MS) values were determined to be 76.7, 65.2, and 60.5 emu/g for MSHS-150, 300, and 400, respectively, which were nearly twice as high as that of the individual Fe3O4 nanoparticles. Interestingly, the decrease of Im can lead to a systematic increase of MS of MSHS (Figure 3b). It may be ascribed to the fact that magnetic dipole-dipole interactions between MNPs, also called dipolar coupling, in a relatively perfect assembly are much stronger than those of individual 9 nanoparticles or random aggregation patterns. Such stronger coupling interactions within MSHS can be further con19 firmed by remanence measurements (Mr). The individual Fe3O4 nanoparticles showed no remanence. However, Mr of MSHS was obviously enhanced and increased following the decrease of Im (Figure 3b). Meanwhile, observed from field cooled/zero field cooled (FC/ZFC) magnetization curves, the blocking temperature TB of MSHS was shifted to a higher value because the coupling effects in assembled structures 9 suppress thermal fluctuations of magnetic spins. Moreover, 20 the magnetic anisotropy constant K deduced from TB also increases as Im decreases (Figure 3b), indicating that by using easily synthesized isotropic building blocks, complex anisotropy in a nanoscale assembly could be created. These results demonstrate that this is a good alternative way to tune the magnetic properties by modulating the assembled structure,

To illustrate the applications, the T2-weighted MRI was performed for the individual nanoparticles and MSHS aqueous solutions at different iron concentrations. Both Fe3O4 nanoparticles and MSHS exhibited enhancement in T2weighted MRI, where the higher the concentration, the darker the image was. However, MSHS possess a much stronger contrast effect (Figure 4a). To further quantify the results, 21 the transverse relaxation rates (r2) were determined. MSHS showed remarkably higher values (56, 662, 681, and 694 mM 1 -1 s for individual nanoparticles, MSHS-150, 300, and 400, Figure S7). They are more than sixfold of the commercially 22 used Feridex. In general, the r2 relaxivity increases with MS due to the magnetic dipole coupling. However, quite unexpectedly, MSHS-400 without the highest MS showed a strongest T2 effect among the three different assemblies. It is well-known that MRI is based on the magnetic relaxivity rates of surrounding water molecules. The water accessibility of contrast agents is another essential factor that affects the 23 MR imaging. The higher T2 effect of MSHS-400 may originate from the synergistic effect of larger hole and higher surface hydrophilicity (Figure S8) that is relevant to the water accessibility.

Figure 4. (a) MRI images of MSHS and individual Fe3O4 nanoparticles with different concentrations in water. (b) Ondemand release profiles of protein from MSHS under the stimuli of 5 min of a HF magnetic field. (c) Magnetically guided transport of MSHS in a droplet. The dark portion is attributed to the MSHS dispersed in the aqueous droplet. The yellow arrows indicate the directions of the applied DC magnetic field. Compared with the conventional hollow spheres with closed shells, MSHS with controllable single hole and tunable magnetic properties can serve as a supercontainer for the controlled release of big guests or other chemical agents. We used albumin from bovine serum (BSA) as a model biomacromolecule to evaluate the potentials of MSHS for drug delivery. After the loading of BSA, the holes were capped with a heat-sensitive phase change material (PCM, lauric acid, Figure S9 in the Supporting Information). When the temperature rises beyond its melting point (43 °C), the PCM 24 can re-open the holes allowing the BSA to diffuse out. Fig-

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ure 4b shows the on-demand release profile of BSA from MSHS. At 25 °C BSA was not released over 5 h, indicating a perfect sealing by PCM. When 5 min of a high-frequency (HF) magnetic field was applied as a remote-controlled stimuli, MSHS generated heating through Néel and Brownian 25 relaxations. As a result, the encapsulated BSA was instantly released through the re-opened holes. When the release reached a balanced status after 12 h, another magnetic stimuli of 5 min triggered a secondary release of residual BSA. The total amount of BSA released reached approximately 90%. In addition, the uniformity of hollow cavities would enable this drug release system to inject a precise dose of drug, leading to a high reproducibility of drug delivery. Thus, the ondemand drug delivery system can be best fulfilled, which may significantly improve the therapeutic effect and effectively reduce systemic toxicity. Further research will investigate the temperature distribution during heating, thermo tolerance, cytotoxicity and in vivo distribution of drug containers.

the hierarchically structured magnetic single-hole hollow spheres may lead to further development of new concepts and architectures of nanocontainers, thus allowing for more opportunities in biomedicine and other fields.

Moreover, magnetically guided transport is another important issue for practical delivery system. However, experimental failure is quite common, mainly due to the absence of 26 good monodispersity and strong magnetism. But our MSHS meet these requirements. The navigation of MSHS was tested in a quiescent droplet and monitored with a bright field microscopy (Figure 4c). Under an external magnetic field, the movement of MSHS with a velocity of ∼20 µm/s was observed. When the magnetic field direction changed, MSHS immediately followed the direction with a reduced velocity of ∼12 µm/s. Thus, the precise control of the magnetic field gradient can efficiently manipulate the navigation of MSHS, driving them to reach and accumulate at the target region. However, a negligible migration was observed for individual Fe3O4 nanoparticles due to hydrodynamic and colloidal in26 teractions. Given a hydrodynamic diameter and velocity of about 700 nm and 20 µm/s, respectively, the force generated by MSHS on the order of 3 pN was sufficient to efficiently manipulate MSHS across most of the viscoelastic mediums, thus rendering MSHS to be a powerful platform for the magnetic control/manipulation of transport processes.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

In summary, submicron hierarchically-structured magnetic single-hole hollow spheres (MSHS) have successfully been synthesized via the combination of a top-down microfluidics approach along with a bottom-up approach exploiting controlled phase separation and self-assembly. Central to this approach is the use of PEG and MNPs for the generation of double emulsion and single-hole assembly. Besides remarkable monodispersity and tunable magnetic properties, the resulting MSHS fully capitalize on both the multifunctional properties of MNPs and container features of the single-hole hollow spheres. Thus, they can potentially serve as a smart platform. The MSHS could load payloads in a selective way with different size because the diameter of the hole is tunable (smart loading); transport the payloads in a precise route with controllable speed under an external static magnetic field (smart transport); and release the payloads as manipulated when a high-frequency magnetic field was applied as a remote-controlled stimuli (smart release). More interestingly, the entire process can be visualized under the guard assisted by magnetic imaging. We envision this discovery of

ASSOCIATED CONTENT Supporting Information Experimental section and additional data. This material is available free of charge via the Internet at http://pubs.acs.org.

AUTHOR INFORMATION Corresponding Author *[email protected] *[email protected]

Notes The authors declare no competing financial interests.

This work was supported by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (YZ201424), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (2014M561073, 21573250), and the Program for Young Outstanding Scientists of ICCAS (Y41Z011). We thank Prof. Yilin Wang for helpful discussions.

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Figure 1. (a) Schematic illustration of the self-assembly strategy based on the double emulsions to produce MSHS. (b) Formation of oil-in-water droplets using a microfluidic device. The dispersed phase consists of MNPs and PEG in dichloromethane, and the continuous phase is the aqueous phase of sodium dodecyl sulfate solution. (c, d) Optical micrographs of single droplets and double emulsions. (e) Sequential fluorescence images showing the transformation of a single droplet into a double emulsion based on the combined effect of self-emulsification and phase separation. A green fluorescent dye was added in the dispersed phase to visually trace the evolution of a single droplet. 79x61mm (300 x 300 DPI)

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Figure 2. (a-d) TEM images of MSHS produced from emulsion droplets with different CPEG: 0.35, 0.5, 1.0, and 1.5 mg/mL, respectively. Inset: elemental mappings of Fe on intact hollow spheres. (e-h) Typical XTEM, HRTEM, SEM and AFM images of MSHS-400. 55x28mm (300 x 300 DPI)

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Figure 3. Magnetic properties of MSHS and individual OA-Fe3O4 nanoparticles. (a) M-H curves at 300 K. (b) Structural imperfection dependence of MS, Mr and K. (c) FC/ZFC magnetization curves. 41x20mm (300 x 300 DPI)

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Figure 4. (a) MRI images of MSHS and individual Fe3O4 nanoparticles with different concentrations in water. (b) On-demand release profiles of protein from MSHS under the stimuli of 5 min of a HF magnetic field. (c) Magnetically guided transport of MSHS in a droplet. The dark portion is attributed to the MSHS dispersed in the aqueous droplet. The yellow arrows indicate the directions of the applied DC magnetic field. 72x49mm (300 x 300 DPI)

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